Forgotten Airfields 1: Leamington Spa - Bonniksen’s Airfield, UK.

This video is a brief history of a “forgotten airfield” near Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, UK, which only existed because of local man, Julius Edward Bonniksen. It is also incorporates a little about Bonniksen’s life along with that of his father, Bahne who is world famous for his invention of the Karussel movement for watches & the isochronous speedometer. Julius Bonniksen must have been quite a character and I think his life story could make for a movie in itself. He was interned by Germany when he was only 17 because they thought he was a spy and newspaper reports from the time certainly illustrated an adventurous time getting back to England. As if that wasn’t enough, he had to ditch his aircraft once into the English Channel during World War 1. All this was before he was inspired to build his aerodrome; the key subject of this video.

This video project was originally inspired by a single photograph that I took at the airfield site in the early 1980s when I visited the area with my parents.

To many people, an old airfield may now be just a field or a field that has now been built upon. Strictly speaking of course, they’re right. However, I personally consider that a disused airfield site is as important as any other historic site. When Leamington Spa Aircraft Park operated, aviation was something special and to marvel at. For most people today that is no longer the case but I hope that people who watch this video might pause to reflect on what it was like particularly back in the 1920’s and 1930s.

While Leamington Spa wasn’t destined to be as famous or as busy as places like Croydon or perhaps more comparatively a Shoreham, it seems to me that it still historically reflects the aviation spirit of the times. Many people during those years had aviation aspirations; none more famously perhaps than Sir Alan Cobham who was promoting the idea of a network of aerodromes around the country and in getting people to become more “air minded”. Julius Bonniksen rose to those ideals. The fact that he failed to establish his airfield long term should not detract from his success in operating one in the first place. Who knows what may have happened at Leamington had World War 2 not occurred.

In its day, Bonniksen’s airfield had its moments between 1932 and 1945 and while it was never an RAF operational base, it did serve to support its wartime operations. I hope that I have succeeded in capturing the most significant aspects of the airfield’s history. If so, all credit must go to those listed at the end of the video who provided information & encouragement. No copyright infringement is intended.

If there are still people left who remember Major Bonniksen’s airfield, it would be good to hear from them in the comments.

Beware: My apologies for the length of the video and perhaps the intensity of presenting some footage of empty fields. This video is not suitable for people with no interest in aviation/airfields or who may have a limited attention span!

Addendum: Sadly, while in the process of making this video, one of the aircraft I flew over the Leamington Spa airfield site in (G-EGVA) was lost on 2 April 2022*. I’d like to convey my sympathy to the family and friends of those who lost their lives that day. RIP.    • Flying in Cloud   *